Tonight, Yan Xia cooked a dish and a soup, with steamed meat buns on top of the rice.
Because there are no tables.
A thick wooden plank was placed on the ground next to the fire.
Food was placed on the wooden board.
A pot of winter melon and pork rib soup, a plate of stir-fried pork belly, and a bowl for each person.
Each of the four children had a full bowl of white rice, topped with a meat bun.
Yan Xia's bowl only contained soup.
"Mom, here's a steamed bun for you, but I don't like steamed buns."
"Mom, I don't like it either."
"...."
Yan Xia looked at the bowl piled high with meat buns and twitched her lips speechlessly. She wasn't hungry at all.
Depend on! !
It seems that having overly filial children can be quite a burden.
"Take it all back. I'm not hungry, I'll just have a bowl of soup. You all eat quickly. After all these years, I can finally let you eat meat. Ah, I feel a little more at ease now. When you were little, your father went to join the army early, leaving us here to suffer your grandmother's torment. You were all so thin that it broke my heart. Poor Guihua, she had to start washing the whole family's clothes when she was only seven. Jinfu was the same, he had to work in the fields when he was eight. Fortunately, we have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel."
Yan Xia pretended to wipe away non-existent tears.
"I have 20 taels left. Here's what I'm planning: 15 taels will be used to build a house. But we won't build that big brick and tile house. We'll just use half brick and half mud. Each of you siblings will have a room. The remaining 5 taels will be used for you two brothers to get married. As for Guihua and Lamei, I don't want you to get married so early. It's okay if you get married a couple of years later. What do you think?"
Yan Xia's words deeply moved the four people present.
Their eyes were filled with tears.
“Mother… I don’t want to get married. Even if I do, I will save up the money myself. I haven’t even started to be filial to you yet, how dare I let you work so hard to plan for me?” Jin Fu said, his head lowered and his voice nasal.
"I won't get married either. I'm going to work odd jobs in town to earn money for my mother. I don't want to marry that damn woman." Jinlu was usually very mischievous, but he turned out to be quite filial.
"Mother, can't we just live a good life together as a family if I don't get married?" Guihua put down her bowl and nestled beside Yanxia, looking reluctant to part.
“If none of you are going to get married, then I won’t either,” said the youngest member, Lamei.
"Alright, alright, it's okay to joke around, but don't take it seriously. It's settled then. Be good, all of you, and listen to your mother, okay? Once the house is built, I'll go find a husband for your eldest brother. Hurry up and eat, and see if the meat I make is delicious."
To gain favor with her, Yan Xia is really going all out to radiate maternal love.
Asking her to pay money in the past would have been like asking her to die.
Why,
Let's just say it's for four million.
Yan Xia touched her chest with a pained expression.
However, he broke into a smile the next second.
It turned out to be a system notification in my mind that the favorability ratings of all four children had increased.
Looks like his acting wasn't all for nothing...
"Mom, it's so delicious! How can pork belly be so good? I never want to eat cured pork again."
"I like this pork rib soup. It's sweet and flavorful, much better than my aunt's wild vegetable and egg soup."
"Third brother, this is pork ribs. Can wild vegetable and egg soup compare to pork ribs?"
Both dishes received unanimous praise from the children.
"It's really sweet and delicious. This winter melon is great, very juicy and fragrant." Yan Xia also liked this winter melon and pork rib soup and drank three big bowls of it.
I didn't put down my chopsticks until my belly was round.
"Burp~ Oh, I'm so full! This is the first time I've ever eaten so much in my life. Mom, I'm so happy." Lamei patted her belly and burped contentedly.
"Eat your fill and rest. We can wash the dishes tomorrow. It's getting dark, and I'm worried about you going to the river now. Jinfu and Jinlu, you two take Aunt Zhao's things and we'll return them. Oh, and remember to take the bag of pastries I bought; consider it a thank you gift."
After giving the instructions, Yan Xia took her two sons to Zhao Xinrong's house.
She walked ahead, her hands empty.
The sons followed behind, carrying large and small bags.
"Sister Zhao—"
"Knock knock knock—"
"Sister Zhao, it's me. Open the door, I'm here to return something."
Yan Xia's voice was very loud; she deliberately wanted the Chen family next door to hear her.
Sure enough, after she finished speaking, she heard footsteps coming from next door. She guessed that someone was eavesdropping from the corner.
"Oh, Xia, why are you thinking of returning things so late at night? Aren't you going to use them? I didn't urge you to return them, so keep them and use them. There's no need to rush to return them to me."
When Zhao Xinrong opened the door, she saw that the mother and her two children had returned all the things they had borrowed.
I just assumed they were embarrassed.
He quickly declined.
"Sister Zhao, thank you so much, Brother Qian. There are still many good people in the world. I came out of that den of wolves, the Chen family, penniless. It was your help that gave my child and me hope to survive. Come, Jin Fu and Jin Lu, bow to your Aunt Zhao to express your gratitude."
When their mother spoke, the two boys obediently did as she said.
"Oh, no, no, we're all acquaintances, why be so formal?"
Zhao Xinrong quickly helped the two of them up.
"Sister Zhao, thank you so much. This bag of pastries isn't worth much. Take it and let your two grandsons have some as snacks. Don't refuse, or I'll be too embarrassed to ask you for help again."
Now that things have come to this point, it wouldn't be right to refuse.
Zhao Xinrong had no choice but to accept this thank-you gift.
"You're too kind. Come in and have a seat, Xia. Standing is tiring."
The mother and her two children were welcomed inside.
Sitting in the main room.
Zhao Xinrong looked at Yan Xia with a gossipy expression.
"Little Xia, I heard you found a wild boar today? Aunt Big Mouth has been telling the whole village about it. She even said you rented Dali's oxcart to take the boar to town to sell. Is that true?"
"It's true, I was clearing land at the foot of the mountain when a wild boar, for some reason, came down the mountain and chased me. It scared me so much that, perhaps it was my fate, the wild boar fell to its death. That was the king of wild boars, with two long tusks. If it had gored me, I would have been crippled even if I hadn't died. I sold that wild boar to a wealthy family in town for a full thirty taels of silver. With the money, I bought a lot of things. Now, after we finish eating, I'm returning these things to you."
Just as she finished speaking, Zhao Xinrong's youngest daughter-in-law, Zhao Xiaoru, brought her a cup of sweet soup.
Zhao Xinrong has two daughters-in-law, both surnamed Zhao, and both from her maternal village, Zhao Family Village, so the family is very united.
Yan Xia took a sip of the sugar water.
In this era, sugar is a precious commodity.
Serving sweet soup to guests shows that the host values you.
"What Aunt Big Mouth said is actually true! Many people in the village don't believe it. Haha, actually I didn't believe it at first either. I've never seen anyone find a wild boar. Xia, you're so lucky! In the past, Chen Lishi would spread rumors that you were unlucky and that you were a jinx to everyone. But I think you're luckier than anyone else. All your children are filial. Look at Jin Fu and Jin Lu, they're both good-looking and have good temperaments. If I had a daughter, I would definitely want to become in-laws with you."
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